Ancient Indian literature, both, spiritual as well as historical, has several references to Lord Ganesha- the lovable elephant-God who is the deity of beginnings and a terrific trouble-shooter (vignaharta). The Skandapurana delineates his origin while the Ganesh Purana is named after him. The Nagdala Purana says that rishis and munis bowed before him saying, ‘Om Ganeshaya Namaha’ (meaning, I bow to Lord Ganesha). The Yajnavalkya…
Many people say, “I would love to practice meditation but I really don’t have the time.” After studying their lifestyles, we usually find that they are so busily occupied doing so many useless things, that they have no time to do the one thing that really matters. The petty, the trivial, the frivolous and the…
We spend a third of our lives asleep, so why not explore the messages that your unconscious self is sending you? We dream in symbols and what those symbols mean to us can be interpreted in so many different ways. Take an apple for example. Let’s say three persons see an apple in their dreams….
If you want to endear yourself to another person, if you want to learn how to totally mystify your friends, there’s numerous ways to do it, but the most effective is the art of being witty. You can say the funniest and the zaniest thing to your ‘victim’ who will not know whether it’s meant…
Meherbai loved Goa in the rains, so every year, she, along with ten other senior-citizen couples, took a trip to Goa, to experience the rains there, calling it her annual ‘happiness-pilgrimage’ with friends! This year was no different except that the rain-Gods decided to descend upon Mumbai causing a deluge for two days. All the…
Meherbai had gone overboard with deliciously rich and sinfully calorie-loaded goodies during the Navroze season. On Independence Day, she went to the Parsi Gymkhana for the flag-hoisting and had a huge breakfast. It was also her friend Ketayun’s birthday-dinner that night and she went crazy with the desserts. Also, it was their friends – Bomi…
Spiritual consciousness is omnipresent, yet we are oblivious to it. It’s all around us, but few find it. Why? Because the monkey-mind needs to focus on our physical plane through which we can reach spiritual consciousness, especially in troubled times (vighna). This is where the lovable trouble-shooter Ganesha (vighnaharta) steps in. Ancient Indian literature, spiritually and historically refers to…
Meherbai always says, “Dikra, I am not superstitious at all – touch-wood, touch-wood! Only, I don’t walk under ladders and I stop in my tracks when I see a black cat (mui avvar kaari bilari).” She refuses to see that the black kitty is also God’s creature like any of us and has as much…
Your family is supposed to be the safest, most loving place in the world – but what happens if your family means sadness, jealousy, frustration, greed, anger, betrayal or any other disappointments? Mostly, immaterial of your age, you turn to friends and before you know it, they become your adopted family. Those facing daily hostility…
The human body is the opportunity we are given to exhaust our past karma in order to be free and achieve liberation. This body is a playground of action, of enjoyment and at the same time the only place to meditate and possibly, the only tool to attend liberation. The body is where karma, intended as…
Behind every successful man, there is a woman. But in Pablo Picasso’s life, there wasn’t just one, but several women who played a positive and central role in influencing his creativity as an artist. In his formative years, he was dominated by his mother, Maria Lopez Picasso so much so that when he grew up,…